China drops death penalty for 13 non-violent crimes

The standing committee of China's National People's Congress (NPC) [official website] on Friday amended the national criminal law to remove 13 offenses from the list of crimes subject to the death penalty [JURIST news archive]. Those removed are non-violent economic crimes [Xinhua report] and include smuggling cultural relics, precious metals and rare animals; fraudulent activities with financial bills and letters of credit; fraudulent export tax refunds; teaching of crime-committing methods; and robbing ancient cultural ruins. The amendment also restricts death sentences issued to persons over 75 and is the first amendment [China Daily report] of death penalty crimes since 1979. Notably, some economic crimes, including corruption [JURIST report], were not removed from the list, and the death penalty enjoys wide public support in China [AP report]. The amendment, which will take effect on May 1, is the latest move by the Chinese government to reduce the number of death sentences ordered by the country's courts.

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